Author: Jorge Alvarez-Romero

My research explores theoretical and methodological aspects of decision-making problems associated with an integrated land-sea planning approach, such as integrating cross-system threats (e.g. how land-based threats affect marine and coastal spatial prioritization), identifying co-benefits and trade-offs associated with management decisions (e.g. spatial congruence between local and downstream conservation values), and improving collaboration among diverse stakeholders. My work on marine planning includes developing novel approaches to design marine reserve networks considering ecological connectivity and the effects of climate change. I am working at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies as part of the Conservation Planning Research Group.

A new paper on integrated cross-realm planning, led by Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero and other members of the Conservation Planning Group, is now online in Biological Conservation. We followed a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to examine the foundations, current approaches, and key requirements of cross-realm planning. Over three workshops, our team of authors included people with … Continue reading Integrated cross-realm planning: a decision-makers’ perspective

An ongoing study by researchers of the Conservation Planning Group can help organisations involved in natural resource management (NRM) in the Fitzroy River catchment to better understand how they collaborate with one another. Funded by the Northern Australia Hub of the National Environmental Research Program (NERP), researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral … Continue reading Studying collaboration networks in the Fitzroy River catchment

UNESCO and IUCN have just released a draft decision for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The decision proposes not to list the GBR “In danger” as many expected. However, given the many threats that still face the GBR, this article suggests several aspects of the decision that need to be stronger to maintain the World Heritage values. Jon Day from the ARC Centre for Coral … Continue reading The Barrier Reef is not listed as in danger, but the threats remain

Georgina Gurney recently received a Virginia Chadwick Award for her paper on how marine protected areas (MPAs) affect human wellbeing, which is published in Global Environmental Change. The Virginia Chadwick Awards are awarded each year to five ARC Centre of Excellence graduate students for the most outstanding publications in peer-reviewed international journals. Georgina’s paper examined … Continue reading ARC Centre of Excellence’s Virginia Chadwick Award

About Us

The Conservation Planning Group is based within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. We collaborate widely with conservation NGOs, NRM groups and research institutions in Australia and globally.

Opportunities

For information on PhD scholarships, available topics and supervisors, please visit www.coralcoe.org.